Frank Matano
Francesco Matano (born 14 September 1989) is an Italian comedian, television personality, YouTuber, and actor. He first gained notoriety in 2008 by publishing videos of phone pranks on YouTube. He is the first Italian YouTuber to reach one million subscribers.
Frank Matano | |
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Born | Francesco Matano 14 September 1989 Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Italy |
Occupations |
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Years active | 2008–present |
Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[1] |
He later participated in the television shows Le Iene, as an envoy and presenter, and Italia's Got Talent, as a judge.
Biography
Frank Matano was born in Santa Maria Capua Vetere in 1989, to an Italian father and an American mother. He grew up in Carinola, but during his teenage years, he studied languages in the United States, graduating from Cranston High School East, Rhode Island.[2] Back in Italy, starting in 2007, at the age of 18, he found success online with his YouTube channel consisting mainly of videos of telephone jokes and social experiments.[3][4] For a short period, he attended the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, studying languages but without taking exams. Together with Willwoosh and ClioMakeUp, Matano is considered among the first and most famous Italian YouTubers.
His first television appearance was in 2009, for the program Le Iene and the following year he presented a program on Sky, dedicated to telephone jokes, called Sky Scherzando?. In 2011 he participated in the program Ti lascio una canzone by Antonella Clerici, conducting short interviews with the cast. In 2012, he participated in the Lost in Google web series with the JackaL, and in September of the same year participated in 2012 prima di morire on La3, together with Jacopo Morini, and then appeared in the video of the song "Ragazzo inadeguato" by Max Pezzali .
In 2013 he made his film debut in the film Fuga di cervelli, directed by Paolo Ruffini.[5] Also in 2013, he created a second channel on YouTube dedicated to the world of video games called "FRANK MATANO Games". In 2014 he starred in another film, Tutto molto bello, also directed by Paolo Ruffini, released in cinemas on 9 October 2014.[6] Also in 2014, Frank joined the Italian dubbers, dubbing the animated South Park series. In 2015 he appeared on television as an envoy of Le Iene presentano: Scherzi a parte, planning jokes with victims Paolo Brosio and Paolo Ruffini. In the same year, he returns to the cinema and takes part, together with Claudio Bisio, in the film What a Beautiful Surprise, directed by Alessandro Genovesi and in cinemas from 11 March 2015. He also returned to television as a judge in Italia's got talent. In May 2015, he was announced "Revelation of the year" at the 2015 TV Direction Award.
In 2016 he presented Le Iene with Ilary Blasi and Giampaolo Morelli on Sunday. From 16 October 2016, Matano presented the midweek episode, always supporting the same colleagues. Towards the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016, he dubbed Duke Donnolesi in Zootropolis, where he collaborates with Paolo Ruffini who dubbed the character of Yax. In November 2017, together with Claudio Bisio, he presented The Comedians, broadcast on TV8. In 2018 he starred in the film I'm Back, directed by Luca Miniero. Also in 2018, he was the protagonist of another film Tonno spiaggiato, directed by Matteo Martinez. On 4 February 2018, he participated as a competitor along with Iva Zanicchi on the special edition of Guess My Age - Indovina l'età led by Enrico Papi on the Italian channel TV8. In 2021, he participated as a competitor in the Italian comedy show LOL - Chi ride è fuori.[7]
Filmography
Films
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | Fuga di cervelli | Franco Esposito | Feature film debut |
2014 | Tutto molto bello | Antonio | |
2015 | What a Beautiful Surprise | Paolo | |
2016 | Zootopia | Duke Weaselton (voice) | Italian voice-over role |
2018 | Tonno spiaggiato | Francesco | |
I'm Back | Andrea Canaletti | ||
2019 | Beware the Gorilla | Lorenzo Caputo | |
2021 | Una notte da dottore | Mario | |
Sing 2 | Darius (voice) | Italian voice-over role |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2009–2013 | Le Iene | Himself/ Reporter | Variety show (seasons 13–17) |
2010 | Sky Scherzando? | Himself/ Host | Comedy series |
2011 | Ti lascio una canzone | Himself/ Co-host | Talent show (season 5) |
2012 | Lost in Google | Himself | Webseries |
2014 | South Park | Additional voices | 2 episodes |
2015 | Scherzi a parte | Himself/ Reporter | Crossover version with Le Iene |
Tale e quale show | Himself/ Guest judge | Variety/Talent show | |
2015–present | Italia's Got Talent | Himself/ Judge | Talent show (season 6–present) |
2016, 2018 | Le Iene | Himself/ Host | Variety show (seasons 20, 22) |
2017 | The Comedians | Frank | Main role, 10 episodes |
2018 | Guess My Age | Himself/ Guest | Contestant for one episode |
2021 | LOL - Chi ride è fuori | Himself | Contestant (season 1) |
2022 | Himself/ Co-host | Season 2 | |
The Bad Guy | Director on Stage | Episode: "I Saw a Light" |
Music videos
Year | Title | Artist(s) | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2013 | "Ragazzo inadeguato" | Max Pezzali | |
2017 | "Volare" | Fabio Rovazzi | |
2019 | "Non avere paura" | Tommaso Paradiso |
References
- "Frank Matano chi è, età, altezza, fidanzata, genitori, fratello, vita privata, Lol, biografia e Youtube". blitzquotidiano.it. 11 May 2021. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- (in Italian) Frank Matano, comico pigliatutto
- (in Italian) Frank Matano - YouTube
- (in Italian) "Gli scherzi telefonici d'autore che hanno conquistato il Web" Corriere della Sera, 3 dicembre 2008
- (in Italian) www.fugadicervelli.it
- (in Italian) Paolo Ruffini torna sul set: è "Tutto molto bello", astenersi depressi e tristoni - Cinema - Spettacoli - Repubblica.it
- "LOL: Chi ride è fuori - Uscito il trailer dello show comico di Prime Video". MAM-e (in Italian). 19 March 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
External links
- Frank Matano at IMDb